“ That (science)
is designated as Ayurveda where advantageous and disadvantageous as
well as happy and unhappy life along with what is good and bad for
life, it measurement and life itself are described”

Caraka Samhita, sustrastana, chapter 1, verse 41

Ayurveda
is one of the most ancient systems of medicine in the world. Vedas,
the oldest scriptures on the human wisdom and civilization, are the
basic source of Ayurveda. In pre-Buddhist era, it was considered as
highly developed medical science. Historical evidences show that the
Ayurveda was not limited in India. It had spread in many other
countries, which later on modified it as per their needs and environmental
conditions. Thus, modified Ayurveda become the system of medicine of
those countries. Ayurveda is the mother of many other medical systems
of the world. Considering, its ancient status some scholars consider
that Ayurveda is eternal. It is as old as we are.

The word Ayurveda is made up of two
basic terms- ‘Ayu’ and ‘Veda’. ‘Ayu’ means life and
‘Veda’ means knowledge or science, thus the word Ayurveda stands for
the science of life. This clarifies that Ayurveda is not just a system
of medicine but it deals with all aspects of life.

Is this knowledge written down
somewhere?

The
knowledge of Ayurveda had been imparted through hundreds of ancient
texts. In the old days the text was written on palm leaves. Now
you can also find them on paper.
In Sanskrit, Hindi or English.

Basic Concepts of Ayurveda

To understand Ayurveda, it is very
essential to know its basic concepts. These are the backbone of
Ayurvedic philosophy. Ayurvedic approach to health care is based on
their applications.